Lucy Thraves

John Wilson awarded ISM Distinguished Musician Award 2018

The conductor, arranger and musicologist John Wilson has been awarded the ISM Distinguished Musician Award 2018.

The award was presented today during a rehearsal of Walton’s Violin Concerto and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony at the Royal Academy of Music with the Academy Symphony Orchestra.

Established in 1976, the award recognises outstanding contributions made to musical life in the UK. Previous recipients include Sir Antonio Pappano, Dame Felicity Lott, Sir William Walton and Jacqueline du Pré.

Born in Gateshead, Wilson studied composition at the Royal College of Music. He has since developed long-term affiliations with many of the UK’s major orchestras and festivals, and is working at a high level across Europe and Australia. The 2016/17 he became associate guest conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and conducts them regularly in Scotland, as well as at the BBC Proms and Aldeburgh Festival.

Elsewhere, he conducts the BBC Philharmonic, CBSO, Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras.

Wilson described the recognition as ‘humbling,’ adding, ‘the roll call of previous recipients of the ISM’s Distinguished Musician Award in awe-inspiring’.

Deborah Annets, chief executive of the ISM, described Wilson as ‘an eminent conductor, arranger, and musicologist in his own right and also a delight to watch perform, whether it be a rousing performance of Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 or the glittering music from the golden age of Hollywood.’